This is What a Burrito Looks Like in Mississippi

I'm not the kind of writer who'll craft whole blog posts about a single Instagram picture, but the above photo--not the greatest, I admit--led to so much outrage on my IG page that I felt I had to come to the poor thing's defense.

So, yes: this is how a burrito looks like in Mississippi. And not just anywhere in Mississippi, but in Corinth, at the extreme northeast section of the state, just outside Tennessee and Alabama and on what was formerly known as the Robert E. Lee Highway but is now federally designated as U.S. Route 72--but which Corinth still calls the Lee Highway. YIKES!

I can't remember the name of the restaurant where I had this dish, but it was a Mexican restaurant (not a diner or deli, as some of my followers insisted) run by Mexicans (not good ol' boys, as some of my followers insisted) from Jalisco. I ordered a beef burrito, expected carne asada, but instead got fajitas. The table salsa was sweeter than ketchup, and there was no horchata or Jarritos on tap.

Bad Mexican food...but nevertheless, Mexican food in Corinth, Mississippi. Every burrito a soldier in the conquest of America, folks--even one as downtrodden as this one. And in the meanwhile, get thee to Tupelo, where a Oaxacan family serves the "real" deal--details to come...

Gustavo Arellano is the editor of OC Weekly, author of the syndicated column "¡Ask a Mexican!", and Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. He started at the paper with an angry, fake letter to the editor and went from there—only in Anacrime!